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MEDIA AND FEAR OF CRIME The mass media constantly surrounds us, frequently informs us and just as well misinforms us and mainstreams us into a common reality (Gerbner, 1976). With newspapers and magazines, the mass media entered our homes. With radios and television, the mass media became accessible from cradle to grave. With VCRs, cable, and satellite access, the sheer volume of programming available at any one time exploded. The real world increase in the occurrence of stranger crimes and mass attacks could make the media image even more potent because of the prevalence of random crimes reported by the media. This paper looks at mass media research and it’s effects on perception of crime danger, personal fear of crime, and reactions to crime risk. Sections describing the effects of television, newspapers, and the new technologies on fear of crime are all covered. TELEVISION EFFECTS From the earliest days of television there has been concern about the depiction of crime and violence in programs. For a long time anxieties centered on whether examples set by television characters shown as using violence to overcome obstacles and achieve personal goals, encouraged the development and display of delinquent and antisocial behaviors among viewers, especially the young and impressionable. More recently, there has been fresh concern that through its repeated portrayal of criminal and violent behavior, TV can cultivate distorted perceptions of the incidence of violence in the real world and produce exaggerated fears for personal safety (Gerbner, 1976). Gerbner suggest that, “TV is the central cultural arm of American society. It is an agency of the established order and as such serves primarily to extend and maintain rather than to alter, threaten, or weaken conventional conceptions, beliefs, and behaviors…Its function is, in a word, enculturation. In regard to fear of crime, the fear and heightened perceived risk that television may enculture leads to increased acquiescence to and dependence upon established authority” (Gerbner, 1976, p. 175). The TV world contains much more violence than the real world (Gerbner, 1976). Measuring television violence can be done through obtain ratings and opinions from viewers about which programs are violent and how seriously so. This can be done by asking individuals to indicate from a list of program titles which are violent and which are not (Gomme, 1986). One problem with this kind of measure is that it cannot indicate how much violence there is in specific episodes (Gomme, 1986). There is also failed attempts to find a link between TV viewing and fear of crime after controlling for variables like age, education, and income (Gomme, 1986). When looking at ratings of crime seriousness related to amount of television news viewing, suggesting an anchoring effect caused by the more serious crimes usually targeted by TV news (Potter, 1986). TV viewing, fear of crime relationship held only for those respondents who expressed a belief in the truth of television drama (Potter, 1986). It is termed as “magic window” dimension, reflecting a belief that TV shows the world as it really is (Potter, 1986).
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